World Cup 2019 | 'That's an insult to the opposition', netizens slam Kevin Pietersen for making an early prediction during the England-Bangladesh match

Hosts England lock horns against a spirited Bangladesh in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 clash at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Saturday. Eoin Morgan's team would be looking to avenge their 2015 World Cup loss where the Bangladesh Tigers had knocked them out of the tournament. The three-time finalists had also tasted defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in the 2011 showpiece event as well. Nonetheless, this time, England are a force to reckon with as they are billed as the strong favourites to win this competition. Coming into this contest, they had beaten South Africa comprehensively by 104 runs but suffered a 14-run loss against Pakistan.

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza won the toss and invited England to bat first. The English team happily obliged as their explosive openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow took the Bangladesh bowlers to the cleaners right from the word 'Go'. Both the star batsmen registered their respective half-centuries and laid the foundation for a mammoth total. Finally, their 128-run opening stand was broken by skipper Mortaza when he dismissed Bairstow for 51.

After witnessing the English batsmen toying with the Bangladeshi bowlers, former England skipper Kevin Pietersen confidently predicted an English win. He took to social media and wrote 'Game over already. England will get close to 400 and win by 150! Onto tomorrow’s game now, AUS v INDIA. Really looking forward to being at The Oval for that one!'

Read the tweet here.

However, netizens were not quite impressed by the cricketer-turned-commentator's hasty comments.

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England carried on their momentum even after that as they piled on 210/2 in 32.3 overs with Jason Roy scoring a hundred.